12/31/2013

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Empty peaches into a 9x13 pan. Cover with cake mix and firmly press down. Slice butter, adding slices across the cake mix until the top is covered. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake for 45 minutes!

12/18/2013

I LOVE Black Friday shopping! These candles were on sale for $1.99 each so I picked up a couple to give as gifts this holiday season. I also LOVE it when other people do all the work for me....this time I've done all the work for YOU! ; ) Feel free to print the tag below, tape it onto a candle and you've got gifts done for neighbors, teachers, friends or family!

Just cut and copy this image into a document and size it how you want. I sized mine down to about a 4 x 4.

11/22/2013

Holly and I (Heather) used to talk about starting our own photography business together. We really enjoy taking pictures and both find a lot of joy in capturing special moments of our friends and family. We have learned a lot about photography and wanted to share a few simple ways to improve the quality of the pictures you take of your kids.

1. Use natural light

Turn off the lights in your house and open the blinds. If you use natural light you will notice your pictures look less yellow and your kids look more like themselves. This will also help with a lot of the problems you may get with shadows in your photos.

All to often we pull out the camera with the perfect shot envision in our mind, we try so hard to capture the shot we've envisioned that we miss the real one. If your kids don't want to pose how you envisioned them don't force it. Let them laugh, move, be themselves and have fun capturing them as they are.

3. Get on their level

Get on your kids level, this will help you interact with them and help you capture a better looking photo of their faces rather then a birds eye view of them.

4. Focus

Its so easy to grab the camera and take a quick shot and not even realize its blurry and unusable until months later when it's posted online or printed. Take an extra moment to focus in on your child's eyes.

5. Watch your background

Watch for clutter or distractions in the background, you want the child you are photographing to be your focus. Sometimes the background you create can be the distraction, keep it simple.

I really like my adjustable photography background, it has helped me create a professional looking backdrop. It folds up and fits into a small bag, I like this because I don't have to dedicate a large portion of space to photography but can set it up when and where I choose. I ordered my stand through YESCOMUSA and was pleased with the fast delivery time and quality product.

11/18/2013

It is already half way through November and we are excited to share some of the fun ways we preserve memories in our home...we will continue to share some of these ideas next year as we have both come to really enjoy this area of motherhood!

Back in January we started a series to help us focus on the many different roles we have as mothers, if you are interested we have included a little recap below:

10/29/2013

I wrote a whole separate post on how I meal plan here, it might help you understand why I created the dinner menu board the way I did.

When it comes to meal planning I would encourage you to do what works for you! We all have our own way of doing things and so please tweak your board to fit your family. I have included a full sheet of blank meal cards in the printable for this very purpose.

10/28/2013

It seems like the hardest part of meal
planning is getting started… deciding what’s for dinner.

How do I meal plan?

First, I
have found that I do better when I plan one
week at a time as opposed to two weeks or a full month. I think a big part
of this is because I go grocery shopping
weekly and I like to plan our meals around sales and what is in season. I also
have a better idea of our families schedule, I know when we are going to be home, if the kids have
games/lessons, what our work schedule is, etc.

Second, I
like to categorize our meals and
then pick only one meal each week from each category. I categorized our meals into 7 different
categories, one for each day of the week. I don’t assign categories to specific
days but pick what works best for that specific week.

Third, I
like to display our weekly menu. Displaying the menu helps me stick with it
and lets my family know what we are having for dinner.

How Do I Categorize Our Meals?

Below is an
example of how I categorize our meals. I used to categorize by meat/protein (one night we would have something with beef
another night something with chicken, etc.) This worked great but many of our recipes can be used with different kinds of meat or don't have meat in them at all. I really like the way we categorize our meals
now because they’re catered to what our family likes and are categorized in
such a way that scheduling is easy.

ItalianThis is by far our families’ favorite so it’s categorized all
on its own.Favorites Include:Fettuccine Alfredo, Chicken Parmesan, Lasagne, Spaghetti, Pizza and Calzones.

Mexican/Asian/HawaiianWe try to do one of each at least once within the month.Favorites Include: Navajo Tacos, Fajitas, Enchiladas, Stuffed Peppers, Tiny Spicy, Sweet and Sour, Stir Fry, Kahoona Burger and Hawaiian Haystacks.

Meat as Main Menu Item/Crock-PotOnce a week we have meat as our main dinner item with some kind of side like rice, potato or corn on the cob. Most of my favorite main dishes with meat are also crock-pot meals so that's why I categorized these together. Favorites Include: Pot Roast, BBQ Ribs/Chicken, Swedish Meatballs, Grilled 7-Up Chicken, Wingers Sticky Fingers, Italian Chicken and Steak.

Casserole/Freezer MealThis meal is usually reserved for the night I need something fast! I can easily thaw out a prepared meal from the freezer or make a casserole and pop it in the oven.This category also includes a From the Pantry or Garden Meal whichhelps me use ingredients I need to use before they go bad…like when I have an overload of Zucchini from the garden. It also helps me use those ingredients that get pushed to the back of the pantry. Favorites Include: Shepherds Pie, Chicken Pot Pie and Chicken n' rice.

Try a New Recipe

I have hundreds of recipes (bookmarked on my computer, saved to my pintrest boards, stashed in old cookbooks and piled up in my cupboard) this gives me a chance to try them!

Leftovers/Eat Out/Breakfast

We eat a lot of leftovers for lunch but still tend to have excess most weeks...when we do we eat them for dinner too. Other nights we go out to eat. If we don't have leftovers and don't go out we have breakfast for dinner. I like to call this the no planning night. Whatever we decide to do it is easy!Favorites Include: French Toast, Waffles, and of course eating out!

How do I Display Our Menu?

I originally
displayed our menu on a piece of paper clipped to the fridge but quickly
decided I wanted something more permanent so I designed a
sheet in Photoshop, laminated it and used a dry erase marker to write on it.

This
worked great for a while but after a few months of fighting my kiddos to leave
it on the fridge and getting mad at them for coloring on it I decided I
wanted something even more permanent. I wanted a shopping list I could easily take with me when shopping and something more crafty. This is what I came up with:

We have used this for over 8 months now and I am loving it!!

How Do I Use the Dinner Menu?

Their are 7 spots on the menu, one for each day of the week. Each spot has a magnet that holds the meal card in place.

Their is a little pocket for menu items/meal cards. I keep all my meal cards in this pocket and keep them categorized on a clip so that they are easy to go through...this makes it so easy!!

Their is a shopping list...I love this because I can restock it with new sticky pads as I use it up. I also love that my shopping list is part of the menu...it's always there when I need to add to it.

For a free printable and instructions to make your own Dinner Menu check back tomorrow!

10/26/2013

I love anything with BBQ sauce on it. My kids like BBQ dishes too but have a hard time with meat unless it is fall apart soft and so this has become a favorite dish at our house. I love the convenience of using a crockpot and how soft this chicken is.

Ingredients:

6 frozen boneless chicken breasts

1 (12 oz) bottle of BBQ sauce

Directions:

Place chicken, and sauce in crockpot. Cover and cook 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low. Just before serving coat chicken in BBQ sauce.

10/24/2013

These sandwiches are so good...we always make lots so we can have leftovers.

Ingredients:

1 boneless pork shoulder roast (2-3 lbs)

1 bottle BBQ sauce, your favorite

3 Tbsp. honey

Directions:

Add roast, sauce and honey to slow cooker, cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8. Shred meat and serve on sandwich buns.

I like to use leftover roast from Sunday dinner to make these sandwiches too, it's not quite as soft and tender as the above recipe but it's a good way to use leftovers and it's super quick. I simply shred leftover roast and add our favorite BBQ sauce and warm meat up in microwave or crock-pot and serve with buns.

10/21/2013

I LOVE easy recipes. For me the fewer the ingredients the better! This one is super easy, fast, and delicious!4-6 Chicken Breasts1 can cream of chicken1 can cream of celery1 cup sour cream1 cup cheddar cheeseSalt and pepper the chicken, mix the soups and sour cream together and pour over chicken. Bake at 325 degrees for 2 hours. During the last 15 minutes, sprinkle with cheese.

10/12/2013

These are a fun way to enjoy a traditional breakfast all in one bite. The outside is a bit crunchy while the egg is still moist and creamy.

Ingredients:

6 slices of bread

6 eggs

1 cup crumbled bacon

1/2 cup shredded cheese

salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut circles into bread using cookie cutter. Press bread into bottom of greased muffin tin. Top bread with egg and sprinkle with bacon and cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes until egg is cooked.

10/10/2013

Tidy Tots Boutique makes these super cute baby bibs! I have absolutely LOVED mine! It is waterproof and cleans up so easily. My 2 year old has worn it almost daily for the past 3 months and it still looks brand new. I love the fun and colorful pattern and that it stays on even when he pulls on it! Enter below for a chance to win yours today! ; )

Here are some of the other cute designs! I love that you can choose the type of closure that you want. You can choose from a button, Velcro, or snap closure!

This giveaway will end on October 17th at 12:00 a.m. MST. The winner will be e-mailed on October 18th and will have 24 hours to respond before a new winner will be selected! If you do not win you can still get a great deal on a bib! During the week of October 19-26 you can get 15% off at the Tidy Tots Boutique by using code GIVEAWAY15. Good Luck to everyone!

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